Week 8 Reflection - Using Video Games

Oh how I miss my first Atari...

I was in middle school in the early 80's when my family finally scraped enough money together to purchase a video game system. I remember my father telling my mother that I would be able to use it for school - to help me learn. I also remember he said the same thing about my Commodore 64 computer, With it's huge storage capacity of 64 K of memory, I could type and save my papers for school. Only problem was - there were no printers - so typing and printing was out of the question. I remember spening most of my time playing games. As I look back, the only video game I played that had any educational content was the original Oregon Trail. I played that for hours, until I was either at the coast, or dying from diptheria somewhere along the way.

Preparing students for the future begins in the classroom. Very few jobs these days require employees to sit in a room and listen to their boss lecture about productivity for 7 hours. Students will probably not have jobs that will require them to work 8 hours per day, then go home and work an additional 2 to 3 hours before going to bed. Students will have jobs in the future that will require them to work in multiple technology and communicative formats. Future jobs will require employees to work in a miniaturized electronic office that they carry with them. They will communicate with people around the globe. They will work and conduct business via computer technology that has yet to be invented.

Video games provide students the opportunity to receive lots of practice in a specific area, while reaping the rewards of quick feedback and evaluation of progress. “Good video games lower the consequences of failure; players can start from the last-saved game when they fail. Players are thereby encouraged to take risks, explore, and try new things. (Gee, 2005)” With school districts nationwide facing huge budget cuts, I believe that the traditional textbook is about to undergo a huge change. Textbooks still provide valuable reading and writing skills (especially in Science), but I look at the pictures and graphics used and wonder what about the book continues to appeal to students. Soon, textbooks will become interactive and just touching the book screen will give students access to much more varied and current information. I see the ability of the IPod touch, IPad and net books to deliver this content to an extent. But using online games opens a new area of teaching. A new era where students and teachers work together to bring the best teaching tools to class.

Gee, J. P. (2005). Good video games and good learning. Phi Kappa Phi Forum, 85(2), 33–37